CRAFTING WITH CARE
Students participated in “Prowlin with the Prez: Presents with the Prez,” Monday evening by creating ornaments and cards that will be given to assisted living homes.
STAYING HOT
The Eastern Men’s Basketball team looks to continue their hot streak as they welcome in Bradley for a 6 p.m. tip. PAGE 7
D aily E astern N ews
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Tuesday, November 29, 2016 “TELL THE TRUTH AND DON’T BE AFRAID” C E L E BRATI NG A CE NTUR Y OF COV E RA GE E S T . 1 915
VOL. 101 | NO. 66 W W W . D A I L YE A S TE R N N E W S . C O M
Terrorism suspected in attack at Ohio State COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — A Somali-born Ohio State University student plowed his car into a group of pedestrians on campus and then got out and began stabbing people with a butcher knife Monday before he was shot to death by a police officer. Police said they were investigating whether it was a terrorist attack. Eleven people were hurt, one critically. The attacker was identified as Abdul Razak Ali Artan. He was born in Somalia and was a legal permanent U.S. resident, according to a U.S. official who wasn’t authorized to discuss the case and spoke on the condition of anonymity. The FBI joined the investigation. The details emerged after a morning of conflicting reports and confusion, created in part by a series of tweets from the university warn-
ing there was an “active shooter” on campus and students should “Run Hide Fight.” The warning was prompted by what turned out to be police gunfire. Police vehicles and ambulances converged on the 60,000-student campus, and authorities blocked off roads. Students barricaded themselves inside offices and classrooms, piling chairs and desks in front of doors, before getting the all-clear an hour and a half later. Ohio State University police Chief Craig Stone said the assailant deliberately drove his small Honda over a curb outside an engineering classroom building and then began knifing people. A campus officer nearby because of a gas leak arrived on the scene and shot the driver in less than a minute, Stone said.
Most of the injured were hurt by the car, and at least two were stabbed. One had a fractured skull. Columbus police Chief Kim Jacobs, asked whether authorities were considering the possibility it was a terrorist act, said: “I think we have to consider that it is.” Leaders of Muslim organizations and mosques in the Columbus area condemned Monday’s attack while cautioning people against jumping to conclusions or blaming a religion or an ethnicity. “It is particularly heartbreaking to see this random act of violence come to this community I hold so dear,” said Ohio State graduate Nicole Ghazi, who is active in Islamic organizations. Surveillance photos showed Artan in the car
by himself just before the attack, but investigators are looking into whether anyone else was involved, police said. The bloodshed came as students were returning to classes following the Thanksgiving break and Ohio State’s football victory over rival Michigan, which brought more than 100,000 fans to campus on Saturday. “There were several moments of chaos,” said Rachel LeMaster, who works in the engineering college. “We barricaded ourselves like we’re supposed to since it was right outside our door and just hunkered down.” LeMaster said she and others were eventually led outside the building and she saw a body on the ground. Classes were canceled for the rest of the day.
Additional funding to be used for operations By Cassie Buchman News Editor | @cjbuchman
The $5.6 million Eastern is set to receive from the Illinois Board of Higher Education will be used to manage the university’s funds and for other operational expenses. According to the Chicago Tribune, members of the Illinois Board of Higher Education recently approved giving $17 million to Eastern, Western Illinois and Chicago State University. Eastern would receive $5.6 million of this, while Western would get $8.4 million and Chicago State would receive $3 million. The $5.6 million would be used for operations such as employee payroll, which costs the university about $6 million a month, Paul McCann, interim vice president for business affairs said. It would also cover any deficit the university has for the rest of the year, McCann said. “(The money) will just help us manage our funds better,” he added. “We’ll have a little bit more money to deal with.” In an email, Eastern President David Glassman said Eastern will continue to manage its finances through the next stopgap appropriation, or full appropriation if a state budget is enacted. Eastern was slated to receive $26.2 million from a stopgap budget passed in June. S o f a r, t h e u n i v e r s i t y h a s v o u c h e d for $24.9 million of that stopgap, with another $1.3 million yet to be received. “We haven’t vouchered all that yet because it’s utilities,” McCann said. “We’re waiting to accumulate enough dollars to do that.” After this stopgap and funding from the IBHE, the university will have the rest of the tuition funds. The university’s reserves are still at the same level as they were at the beginning of the year- about $3 million. McCann said the university is trying to get the amount of money from the state as high and as close to the $42 million the university would get if a budget was passed. Funding, page 5
MOLLY DOTSON | THE DAILY EASTERN NE WS
Christian Johnson, a sophomore secondary education major, plays a mentally and physically abusive partner while Keyana Latimer, a junior sociology major, plays the victim of this abuse, as part of a creative monologue, during the “Hear My Cry” event Monday in the University Ballroom of the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union.
Showcase unmasks victim’s stories NACWC organization pays tribute to victims of police brutality By Mallory Kutnick Staff Reporter | @DEN_News As incidents of police striking down African-Americans continue to breach the public eye, an academic advisor for Eastern’s Gateway Program stated Monday for fairer representation within the media. “There’s an African proverb that states, ‘Until the story of the hunt is told by the lion, the tale of the hunt will always glorify the hunter,’” Yolanda Williams, academic advisor, said in a speech during the second annual “Hear My Cry” event Monday night. “Hear My Cry,” hosted by the National Association of Colored Women’s Club, focuses on the stories of black women harmed or slain by police, including Naperville resident Sandra
Bland, who died in a jail cell in Texas after being arrested on a traffic violation. “The story is always going to be onesided,” Williams said. “So until the history of Africa is told by Africans, the story of greatness will always glorify imperialists – the white people.” Asked who was telling their stories, the audience chimed in with responses of “media” and “others,” but the answer on Williams’ tongue was “the lion.” “With access to social media, we are being able to tell our own stories,” Williams said, “And where sometimes our stories, to us, seem to be cut and dry, to others – the police, white people, the media – our stories are deemed more complex or complicated because our stories are muddied with how others perceive us and our own reality.” Despite this, Williams pointed the audience to The Counted, an interactive database of people killed by the police in the United States in 2015 and thus far in 2016. According to The Counted, police took the
lives of 229 African-Americans in 2015, out of a total of 1,146 victims. Williams said the information The Counted provides is crucial knowledge. “Hear My Cry” also featured a performance highlighting the troubles of an abusive relationship and tributes to multiple female victims, ending with a moment of silence. The issue of police brutality hits particularly close to home for NACWC President Kayla Slusher, whose mother is an officer and, though now on desk duty, works alongside people affected by the consequences of police brutality. The NACWC goes by the motto of “uplifting women and youth” and is a new club on campus. Community health major Shantel Hatcher, the club’s public relations chair, said they aim to develop bonds within the community. Corporate communication major Kendall Hurst added that they also aim to bring the community closer. Showcase, page 5